The City Council is looking to goad developers whose projects have been derailed by the lagging economy into keeping their inactive construction sites safe and clean by offering four-year extensions on building permits.

The council was expected to pass legislation approving the new program on Wednesday, the day after this paper went to press.

“If these sites are not protected, they can very quickly become a safety hazard for residents,” said City Council speaker Christine Quinn during a press conference Monday morning in front of a stalled construction project near McCarren Park in Williamsburg.

The new program will give developers with valid building permits that will likely expire before they can finish construction a four-year extension, which would allow them to get to work immediately if it becomes financially feasible. Developers whose permits have already expired would be ineligible for the program.

In return, the developers will have to maintain the site, keeping it free of graffiti and trash, as well as adhere to a site safety plan developed in conjunction with the Department of Buildings (DOB).

“Developers will gladly take a proactive approach for the good of their project,” said Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who sponsored the legislation.

Quinn said under the program DOB would at least have a record of stalled construction projects, which they currently don't have because developers don't need to file any paperwork with the city just because their permit has expired.

She also said that offering the extension was the best way to get developers to act.

“In a carrot-stick approach, there is not much of a stick that we can apply here,” said Quinn. “There is nothing we can do to make them start working again.”

DOB has identified approximately 550 construction projects across the city that are in a state of limbo because of the poor economy. In Brooklyn's Community Board 1, where the press conference was held, there are over 40 stalled projects.

“This is the right solution for this problem, but it is only one small aspect of building issues,” said Ward Dennis of Community Board 1. “For every stalled site, there are two or three active sites that have issues that need to be addressed as well.”

The empty construction sites have become a blight on the community, not only because they quickly become eyesores, but because they also attract the homeless, who squat in the half-finished buildings. The homeless, in turn, have a tendency to bring a criminal element to the neighborhood.

But Williamsburg resident Phil DePaolo argues that the legislation will do little to solve North Brooklyn's issues. For starters, he said, a lot of the permits for stalled sites in Williamsburg have expired, so they would be ineligible for the program. DePaolo also doesn't believe that developers will voluntarily join the program.

He also points out that the city already has a law on the books that requires developers to maintain safe conditions at their job sites, and if they fail to do so they are subject to violations totaling $25,000.

“Why are we giving these developers a four-year window when they have not only a moral obligation to keep their sites safe, but a legal one as well?” asked DePaolo. “The city doesn't even enforce the laws it already has.”